Fulton (8-17, 4-8 North Central Missouri Conference) trailed 18-16 at halftime and outscored Mexico 9-8 in the third quarter to trail by just a point at the start of the fourth quarter.

But the Lady Hornets’ offense stalled in the final 8 minutes and struggled to protect the ball as they were outscored 22-9 in bowing by 14 points.

“It’s been the same thing the past four weeks; we play three quarters and there’s just that one quarter you can’t stand to look at,” Fulton head coach TJ Quick said. “We’re down by one going into the fourth quarter, we’re exactly where we want to be and we can’t take care of the ball.

“It’s just one bad possession after another.”

New Bloomfield 49

Cole Camp 47

RUSSELLVILLE — The third-seeded Lady Wildcats will play for the Class 2, District 8 championship after outlasting the No. 3 Lady Bluebirds in semifinal play Wednesday night.

New Bloomfield carried a 16-12 lead into the second quarter, but Cole Camp outscored the Lady Wildcats 11-7 during that span to pull even at 23-all going into halftime. New Bloomfield then outscored the Lady Bluebirds 6-5 in a lackluster third quarter to go in front 29-28, and held on for the narrow win by outscoring Cole Camp 20-19 over the last 8 minutes.

Junior guard Sydni Bedsworth logged all eight of her points in the decisive fourth quarter, hitting 5-of-6 free throws to help New Bloomfield seal the victory. Junior center Zoe Welschmeyer also blocked five shots.

“We got off to a pretty good start … and then the game kind of settled in,” Lady Wildcats head coach Brett Craighead said Thursday afternoon. “Our intensity was where it needed to be for the whole ballgame.

“I never felt like we weren’t in control. The girls had a mentality that they weren’t going to lose.”

Women’s basketball

William Woods 65

Hannibal-LaGrange 49

HANNIBAL — The Lady Owls secured the fourth seed for next week’s AMC postseason tournament and extended their winning streak to five games with Thursday night’s victory over the Lady Trojans.

Senior guard Katie Scherder posted a team-high 15 points on 4-of-8 shooting — including 2-of-5 attempts from 3-point range — as William Woods University (21-8, 14-7 American Midwest Conference) rode a large first-half lead to the 16-point victory.

The Lady Owls shot 55 percent (17-of-31) in the first half and were 5-of-9 from beyond the arc during that stretch to roll into halftime with a commanding 47-17 lead. William Woods stretched its lead to as many as 32 points early in the second half to complete the season sweep of the Lady Trojans.